The present invention relates to a trap for destroying small rodent-type animals.
Rodent traps of the type which employ finger settable spring-biased wire loops to trap a rodent which has actuated a baited trigger mechanism are well known in the art. Such traps, as compared to cages, are especially advantageous as the rodent is instantly destroyed upon being caught and is available to be disposed of immediately, and do away with having to search for its body through odor detection, such as with the use of poisons.
The successful operation of these types of rodent traps depends in a large part on the sensitivity of the baited trigger to the touch of a rodent to release the spring loaded wire loop before the rodent can escape. The challenge in the design of a sensitive rodent trap is to simplify the construction and assembly thereof for economic purposes while yet keeping the trigger mechanism rugged and highly sensitive to the slightest touch of a rodent.
A corollary challenge to the foregoing is to design a sensitive bait carrier trigger mechanism without the use of spring means or counterbalance weights to bias the biat carrier to an initial position such that the trap can be set without using both hands of the user. The drawback with using spring means or counter balance weights is that the sensitivity of the trigger mechanism is reduced because these bias forces act in a direction opposing the force exerted by the rodent in attempting to eat the bait. The rodent must, therefore, exert a force on the bait carrier in excess of the force resulting from the friction of the bait carrier moving parts.
There exists rodent traps, such as those manufactured by Victor and readily available at supermarkets, which employ bait carriers that are mounted to a base for wobbly movement, but are so arranged as to require both hands to set. This trap, while being simple in construction, requires it to be set in such a manner that there is an inherent danger of finger injury upon an inadvertent release of the wire loop striking bar.
Many approaches have been taken in the art to circumvent the problem of providing a trap settable without the use of both hands, but by and large those attempts have resulted in the use of spring means or counter weights to bias the bait carrier to a predetermined position. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 2,022,625 discloses a rodent trap settable with the fingers of one hand but still utilizes a spring wire to keep the bait carrier in a raised position. U.S. Pat. No. 907,516 employs a similar principle in imparting an upward tendency on the bait carrier. Fully disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 903,296 and 1,250,022 are animal traps using counter balancing weights for forcing the respective bait carriers to assume a predetermined position so that the other hand of the user need not be used to manipulate the bait support and trigger for cooperative engagement thereof.
Other conventional animal traps, such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 1,541,856, are of the type which require both hands for setting the trap, as well as a bait carrier counter balance weight and spring means for biasing the trigger arm to a predetermined position.
With the foregoing in mind, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a rodent trap of one embodiment with an improved bait carrier biasing mechanism having a greater overall sensitivity to touch than those biased by springs or counterbalance weights.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a rodent trap which employs a uniquely constructed bait carrier and catch mechanism for reducing the friction between the various surfaces to thereby reduce the force required to spring the trap.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improved bait carrier and catch mechanism of another embodiment which is responsive to sideways bait carrier movement as well as vertical movement for releasing the trigger mechanism and springing the trap. It is a corrolary object of the foregoing to provide automatic aligning means for use in self-aligning the improved bait carrier during the trap-setting step so that the trap can be set by squeezing it between the finger and thumb of one hand.
In both embodiments, the trap-setting mechanism is so arranged that the user's fingers, during the setting operation, are removed from the striking bar zone of movement thereby preventing injury to the fingers.
The foregoing objects, as well as others, and the means by which they are achieved through the present invention, may be best appreciated by referring to the detailed description of the invention which follows hereinafter together with the appended drawings.